


Handle With Care

by JackH777



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Pack, Guilt, Hospitals, Hurt Stiles, I am not a doctor, Injury, Lydia Martin is a good friend, Medical Inaccuracies, Multi, Pack Family, Pack Feels, Scott is a Good Friend, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 12:25:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15364671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackH777/pseuds/JackH777
Summary: Stiles wakes up feeling bad but decides to push through for the good of the pack. Maybe he should have listened to Lydia and stayed in bed. As it turns out there are real problems that come with having your head knocked into things all the time.AKA: When the Stiles gets hurt and the pack rethinks every interaction they have had with their friend.





	Handle With Care

**Author's Note:**

> Hurt Stiles ends up in the hospital with some serious head trauma. 
> 
> There are probably a lot of medical inaccuracies and as stated in the tags I am not a doctor!
> 
> I don't own teen wolf.
> 
> Rated Teen and up for some language use.

Stiles was experiencing the worst headache of his life. It had been going on for a few days now and it was really starting to become a problem. He was having a hard time focusing and not like his normal hard time focusing where his head is all over the place. This was more like someone was taking his head and squeezing it.

 

He was feeling bad enough that he convinced his dad to let him stay home from school.

 

Currently, he was lying in bed with all the light blocked out of his room and a fan blowing cool air on him. It seemed to be helping, but his head still hurt a great ton and he was feeling kind of nauseous.

 

After hours of trying he finally managed to fall into an uneasy sleep. Of course, it couldn’t last because his life was just that horrible.

 

“Stiles. Stiles wake up.” Someone called pulling him from his sleep.

 

Opening his eyes seemed like such an impossible task, but he managed it with a great amount of effort.

 

He regretted it almost instantly. Whoever the intruder was decided that it would be a good idea to not only turn on his light but also open the blackout curtains he had closed.

 

All of this light was really not helping his head. It did, however, allow him to see that the evil intruder was none other than the gorgeous Lydia Martin and she did not look happy. This was not good. An unhappy Lydia meant he had a lot of work to do.

 

“Stiles why weren’t you at school today? If you were going to ditch it was the least you could have done to let us know so we could play hooky together.”

 

He opened his mouth to reply but shut it quickly too mesmerized in the actions of his former crush. She moved around quickly picking up his dirty clothes from the floor and dropping them in the hamper, moving his backpack from where he had thrown it on his desk and placed it on the back of his chair, and then moving over to his closet and pulling out clothing for him.

 

She picked a pair of jeans, his Batman t-shirt, his blue flannel, and a clean pair of socks dumping them on his bed before giving him a stern look.

 

“What are you waiting for boy wonder? We have a pack meeting in an hour to discuss what we’re going to do about those Omegas.”

 

Lydia continued moving around his room putting things back in their proper places. Stiles forced himself to sit up, but the simple task took most of his energy.

 

“I’m not sure I should go Lyds. I really don’t feel well.” He said clamping his eyes shut.

 

Lydia turned to look at him quickly her face changing from irritation to one of concern. She avoided looking at him when she came in on the off chance he was not decent (the reason for that is a story for another time).

 

She walked over to him quickly placing the back of her hand to his forehead. He was warm, but not hot enough to be of major concern. “It feels like a slight fever. What are your other symptoms?”

 

“My head is killing, and my stomach is doing summersaults.” He explained before easing himself back down.

 

Lydia was still looking concerned before coming up with a plan of action. “You need food, medicine, and rest. I am going to make you some soup and find something that will make you feel better. You stay here and relax. Is the light hurting your head? Is that why it was so dark in here?”

 

Stiles nodded slowly still with his eyes closed.

 

“Crap sorry. Here let me make it dark again. I’m going to turn your computer on dim so I can see what I am doing when I come back in.”

 

When he heard her heading down the stairs he allowed his eyes to open again and was pleased to find himself surrounded by darkness. Whatever this was he was really hoping it would go away quickly. He did not have time for this crap.

 

Lydia bless her soul, came back less than five minutes later with a tray.

 

“I wasn’t sure which kind you liked, so I made both chicken noodle and tomato. You said your stomach hurt so the tomato might be easier for you to keep down, but I wanted to let you choose. Also, I found some medicine that should help you. Personally, I think you should have two tablets, but again I’ll leave that up to you.”

 

“Thanks for doing all this Lyds.”

 

She helped him sit up slowly before setting the tray on his lap. He took her advice and started on the tomato. He knew it must have come from one of the cans in their pantry, but it tasted like the best soup he had ever had.

 

Once he ate enough of his soup to fill his stomach Lydia handed him some water and the pills. He took them quickly and finished the glass at her insistence. She helped him back down before situating herself.

 

He was feeling better by the minute, but his head was still buzzing. At least he was able to sit up now. Lydia was sitting on the edge of his bed reading one of his comic books using the week light of his computer.

 

A phone going of pulled in both their attention and caused Lydia to get up and find her purse which she had left on his desk.

 

“What do you want?” She snapped quietly at whoever was calling her. Her face softened at their reply and she went over to the window peeking out. Looks like it had been a while because the sky was pitch black instead of the bright blue it had been when Lydia had first gotten there.

 

“Crap, sorry Allison. Yeah, I’m still over at Stiles house. No, look he is sick so I don’t think we are going to be able to make it to the meeting.”

 

There seemed to be a lot of talking coming from the other end of the phone. Lydia’s face was growing more and more annoyed the longer the other person was talking.

 

“No Derek, we cannot just come. Like I told Allison Stiles is sick and he needs his rest.” She explained.

 

Stiles could practically feel the glare that he was sure Derek was sending through the phone, so he made himself stand and grab the phone from Lydia.

 

“Don’t worry Derek were on our way. We will be there in like fifteen.” He quickly ended the call moving to grab the clothes Lydia had gotten for him.

 

“Stiles you cannot be serious you need to rest.” Lydia cried as he went into the bathroom to change.

 

He really did feel horrible and he wished more than anything that he could just climb back into bed and lay there for the enter weekend, but that was not how his life worked. Stiles knew he needed to pull himself together and go help his pack deal with these Omegas. Leaving them to their own devices had not worked out for them in the past and if Lydia stayed here to help him they would stand no chance.

 

Once he was dressed he walked out grabbing his phone wallet and keys he made his way downstairs. Lydia followed, but she did not look happy about it.

 

“Can you drive?” He asked not trusting himself to be behind the wheel in this state.

 

She folded her arms over her chest and gave him a very stern look. “You should be in bed Stiles.” Her tone told him everything he needed to know about how this was going to go, so he decided to speed the process along.

 

“Lydia we are just going for the group discussion and planning; then we will leave the hero stuff to the others. Once we help them make the plan I promise I will come back here and not leave until I am one hundred percent better.”

 

The look on her face said she didn’t fully believe him, but she walked pack him and out the front door, so he would count it as a win.

 

The ride was quick, and Stiles found himself thankful that it was past sunset. As they walked up to Derek’s loft Lydia dough through her bag and found a pair of Jackson’s sunglasses. She slid them onto his face. Before continuing she caressed his cheek softly. God, if eight grade him could see him now; he would have dropped dead knowing Lydia Martin had become his actual friend.

 

That friend entered the apartment before him pulling him over to an empty couch and shoving him down onto the chilled leather. Once she saw that he was sitting comfortably she turned on the pack with a serious face.

 

“He is only here to help with ideas and planning. When that is done I am taking him home and he is off all cases until he gets better. For now, you are going to talk in inside voices and there will be no fighting.”

 

There were several head nods, but she was only interested in two for the moment. Once Scott and Derek both showed that they understood a smile fell on her face and she sat down next to Stiles.

 

The others took their seats on the several other couches and chairs in the living area. Scott the good guy he was made his way over to the seat on the other side of Stiles and placed a soft hand on his best friend’s shoulder trying to take some of his pain away.

 

Stiles gave him a grateful smile as Derek started talking about what they were going to do about the Omegas. As the meeting proceeded Stiles had to admit that it was kind of nice having a clam meeting like this. Maybe he should get sick more often if it would get the pack to be chill.

 

The plan they come with seemed simple enough. They were going to try to catch the Omegas, it was possible that it was just one but based on the amount of damage being done they were assuming at least two, at the preserve. Civilians were less likely to be in danger if they had the fight there.

 

With the plan set Lydia pulled him to his feet getting him ready to go. He felt like things would be alright, which should have been his first clue that everything was about to go to shit.

 

When they were a few steps away from the door it was ripped open and a giant werewolf in its furry form came crashing in. Stiles moved quickly shoving Lydia behind him. He could hear the wolves in his pack growling and starting their shifts, but the stranger saw his window and was going for it.

 

The big guy was quick to grab Stiles by the throat and shove him up against the nearest pillar putting himself between Stiles and the pack. It was enough to make the others pause seething where they stood.

 

Stiles was trying to focus on them, but his world was spinning everything felt fuzzy and there were black spots clouding his vision. He heard voices and talking but none of it was making it way through to him. It was like the world was covered in plastic wrap and it was getting hard to breath. The hand that was holding him fell, but with nothing supporting him Stiles was a victim of gravity too.

 

Someone caught him before he hit the floor. He thought it might have been Derek based on the smell, but he wasn’t able to hold onto it before he blacked out.

 

_Twelve Minutes later_

 

“Help! I need help!” Derek yelled, and he carried Stiles into the emergency room.

 

“Oh my god, Stiles.” Miss McCall said running over to them calling for all sorts of things from those behind her. “What happened?”

 

“We were attacked, and they went after him, but it’s something bad I can feel it.” Derek explained quickly in a whisper. A bunch of people came and took Stiles from his arms. He let them even though his wolf was pissed at him for letting his pack member go. “He hit his head.”

 

“We need to get an MRI now, right now.” Miss. McCall ordered leading the way for the bed they now had him on.

 

Derek moved with them trying to make sense of everything and answer the questions they were asking. When they got to a large set of double doors Miss McCall turned to him quickly telling him he needed to wait there. He wants to protest, but he couldn’t risk it delaying Stiles from getting the help he needed.

 

When Derek had caught him from falling he felt something horrible on Stiles. It was bad enough to cause him to scoop the boy up and run as fast as he could to the hospital.

 

He had to stand there waiting for a while before the others arrived all in varying states of distress. Lydia and Scott looked the worse and it was easy to guess why, but the others weren’t much better.

 

“We drove the cars over if anyone asks you brought him in your car. Peter is taking the body to the preserve to be dealt with later and he is coming here when he is done. Did they say anything yet?” Allison asked trying to keep a clear and practical head.

 

Derek could only growl lowly letting the others know he didn’t know anything yet.

 

It was about thirty minutes later when Miss McCall came back out looking very distressed. It did not make any of them feel better seeing that look. She motioned for all of them to follow her which they did quickly. She led them to a small privet waiting area making sure the door was shut before speaking.

 

“What happened and only one of you?” She said in a nervous voice.

 

Derek took a small step forward signaling that he would speak. “A rough Omega broke into the apartment. Stiles was the closest one to him. The guy grabbed him and shoved him against a wall; I’m pretty sure he hit his head. We killed the fucker quickly, but Stiles was already on the verge of blacking out when we got to him. It felt like something was really wrong.”

 

Melissa nodded her head slowly trying to process the information. “How was he before that?”

 

“He was sick.” Lydia said quickly. “He wasn’t at school because he was sick and when I went over he was laying in his bed in complete darkness. His head was hurting, and he said he had a stomach ache. I made him eat some soup and take some pain meds. We weren’t going to go to the meeting, but he convinced me that we needed to be there. God, why did I listen to him? He shouldn’t have been there.”

 

Jackson moved quickly putting a supportive arm around her shoulder. She buried her face in his neck sobbing. She felt so dumb for letting him talk her into going.

 

“Mom is he alright?” Scott questioned with tears in his eyes. Allison got closer to offer some comfort, but Scott was losing it and need to know that he was going to be alright.

 

Melissa gave her son a concerned look before shaking her head and focusing once again. “Has Stiles hit his head recently? Not just a little bump, but a serious trauma that he might not have treated?”

 

Derek was trying to think back, but he couldn’t remember exactly. If Stiles was hurt, they usually knew and made an attempt to make him feel better. This was not making any sense.

 

“Mom please, what is going on!” Scott yelled tears spilling down his cheeks and shaking in fear.

 

The women had tears starting to form in her own eye when she faced the whole group. “Stiles has massive trauma to the back of his head. Due to the amount, the doctors think it was either formed by one almost fatal blow, or several hard hits to the same area over and over again.

 

Based on how you say he was feeling it probably happened before today and this blow was just enough to cause him to lose consciousness. He probably had a concussion or worse, but that’s not important now. They have taken him upstairs and are performing surgery trying to reduce the swelling and stop any potential bleeds.”

 

“He is having brain surgery right now?” Jackson questioned in a horrified voice.

 

“Is he going to be alright?” Scott asked trying to stay on his feet. “Mom tell me he is going to be alright!” Scott demanded when his mom did not answer his question.

 

She allowed a few more tears to escape before pulling out her phone. “Has anyone called his father yet?”

 

“I did. He wasn’t in, but I left a message with the station. They said they would radio for him and that he would be here as fast as possible.” Isaac said dropping into one of the waiting room chairs. The young man looked broken, but he wasn’t crying yet.

 

Melissa nodded her head. “I’m going to leave a message at the front desk telling them to send him here.”

 

They all waited in varying states of shock. Peter got there about five minutes later and almost collapsed upon hearing the news. He had always been fond of Stiles and knowing he had not protected one of his considered ‘pups’ was tearing him up inside.

 

The sheriff got there ten minutes after that looking like his world was shattering around him. “What did you do to my son Hale?” He yelled launching himself at the Alpha.

 

Derek allowed the hits to come not even feeling them, but he caught the man before he fell to the floor. “What happened to my boy?” The man sobbed. Peter came over quickly helping hold the older man’s weight before the two of them lowered him into one of the chairs. It was clear this was bringing back all kinds of painful memories for the sheriff.

 

 _Four hours later_  

 

Miss McCall’s shift had ended allowing her to go join her family in the privet waiting room. She had been there for about an hour when the surgeon finally came in. Everyone jumped to their feet in an instant bracing for whatever news they might get.

 

“Sheriff is it alright for me to inform every one of your son’s state?” He asked with a face giving nothing away. The sheriff gave a quick nod. As much as he might have been blaming his son’s injury on the wolves he knew every person in this room loved and cared about his son.

 

The doctor gave him a small smile before letting them know what was going on with Stiles. “Your son came in with major trauma to the back of his head and a small brain bleed. We had to perform an emergency surgery to stop the bleed. The surgery was a success, but in order for your son to have the best chance of reducing the swelling we had to place him into a medically induced coma.”

 

There were a few sighs of relief followed by gasps of horror. Stiles, their Stiles was in a coma.

 

“We are planning to monitor his progress for the next few weeks. Our hope is that once the swelling is reduced that Stiles will make a full recovery and we can wake him up.”

 

More tears fell, but they all seemed to be relaxing a little. “How does something like this happen?” Peter questioned.

 

“Well there are a number of ways, but the most likely cause was that he repeatedly hit his head in the same small area repeatedly. When we see these types of injuries in someone Stile’s age it is usually directly related to a sport. Does Stiles play any sports?”

 

Jackson nodded quickly. “He’s on the lacrosse team with us.”

 

The doctor seemed to be thinking but nodded his head softly. “A contact sport like that could explain the damage. My best guess is that he received several very hard and rough hits first. These would have presented as a small headache, most likely during tryout time.

 

I have noticed that during tryouts players usually get rougher with each other and they are less likely to take care of their injuries. They are so focused on making the team that they disregard their own health. After initial few hits, every minor bump would have caused as much damage as if it was a major blow.”

 

The doctor went on to explain several things about how the brain works. He tried to ease their minds about the medically induced coma. Before leaving he let them know that Stiles was being settled into a room and that they would be allowed to see him soon. Since it was after visiting hours he was being nice and letting them all see Stiles briefly before anyone who wasn’t family needed to leave for the night.

 

Everyone was tense until they were physically able to see Stiles. “Normally we do not allow this many people in the room at one time, so please keep your voices down.” The nurse who showed them to the room said.

 

Derek’s heart stopped the moment he walked through the door. Stile, their Stiles was laying there in that hospital bed looking so small. It felt like they had purposefully made the bed three times larger than it needed to be, but he knew that wasn’t true. He had never thought of Stiles as small until this moment.

 

The usually talkative boy was laying there with bandages around his head and a strange contraption on the back protecting the area where they had performed the surgery. By far the worst thing was the massive amount of cords coming off the teen from every direction including a giant tube that was running down Stile’s throat helping him breathe.

 

Everything about this just felt wrong.

 

Melisa recognized the glazed look in the sheriff’s eyes and moved him over to the large chair helping him sit by his son. This must just be tearing the man apart and if she was honest focusing on John was allowing her to be distracted from Stiles.

 

There were tears in the eyes of all, but no one said a single word until the nurse came back a little while later and told them anyone who wasn’t family needed to leave. She promised they could all come back the next day as early as 8 in the morning.

 

Melissa checked with talked quietly with the sheriff for a few minutes. “I’ll stop by your house tomorrow and get you anything you need before I come back.”

 

She thought about staying, after all, she was listed as Stile’s second emergency contact, but she knew she needed to go home and rest. The double she had just worked required a real bed. It would also be easier to convince John to go home for a few hours if she was rested.

 

No one stopped Scott when he claimed the second chair as his own and moved it close enough to the bed that he could touch Stile’s hand. Everyone knew better than to try to get the stubborn boy to leave. Not when his ‘brother’ was laying in that bed.

 

The pack slowly started moving out of the room and towards the exit even though all of their instincts were telling them to stay with their injured pack member.

 

“Everyone can stay at the apartment if they want.” Derek offered once Miss. McCall was safely in her car and on the way home. The others nodded their heads and climbed into the cars to head back together.

 

Derek was glad Stiles had come up with the idea for everyone to leave a spare outfit and pajamas at the apartment. He even talked Derek into giving the teens their own bathroom where they kept spare toothbrushes and other extra toiletries they might need.

 

The whole place was quiet and everyone inside was sullen.

 

They all spent the night being near each other and trying to get some sleep. Some were having more success than others.

 

**JACKSON**

 

_He never meant to be so aggressive when they played. It was just that he was the captain, ok one of the captains, and he wanted their team to be the best._

_Pushing the guys to their limit was not meant to be cruel, but rather to help show them how strong they truly were. He often got on Stile’s case a lot because he knew the guy had so much talent. The motormouth could have been one of their best players (besides those who were enhanced) if he would just put in a little effort._

_Stiles was one of those guys who got it in his head that he could never be as good as the others, so he slacked off a lot. Whenever Jackson tried to push him McCall would always get on his case about being an ass, but that wasn’t it. He just wanted Stiles to play up to his full potential._

_“Stilinski, come do that again.” He yelled after Stiles had shrugged off not being able to get past the defender._

_Jackson knew he could do this, he had seen the boy do this exact same thing in their game last week._

_Stiles gave a little-annoyed huff but moved to the front of the line again. “Focus this time.” Jackson said before blowing the whistle._

_The other boy seemed to be listening because this time he picked up the ball and took off full speed at the first defender. Jackson was really impressed with the spin moved Stiles used to get past him._

_The only downside was the move took a lot of time and left Stiles wide open for a rough hit by the second defender._

_Jackson grimaced as Stiles flew through the air and crashed down hard on his back full body slamming against the ground. Man, that had to hurt._

_The captain moved forward to offer assistance, but the second defender was already offering his hand to Stiles. When Stilinski allowed himself to be pulled up and started moving to the back of the line Jackson let out a little breath._

_“Good move Stilinski but see about speeding it up so the other guy doesn’t have a chance to put you on your ass.”_

_It might have come out a little harsher than intended, but he didn’t like watching the other boy get the shit knocked out of him. It was bad enough he had to see it when they were fighting monster; he did not want to see it when they were playing too._

Jackson jumped a little when Lydia sat down next to him pulling him out of his thoughts. He adjusted himself on the couch allowing her to lay her head on his chest. It hurt him seeing her hurting like this. Stiles was one of her best friends and the first person she listened to about showing other how smart she was.

 

He would always be grateful to the other teen for helping his girlfriend the way he had. It just made him feel even worse for not being able to protect him.

 

“He’s gonna be alright.” He whispered into her ear as he tightened his grip on her a little more. If he was saying it to reassure her or himself, he wasn’t too certain.

 

**ISAAC**

 

The blond sat curled up in a recliner trying to make himself as small as possible. He was grateful to Allison for dropping a blanket on him, but it didn’t do anything to make him feel better.

 

It just didn’t make any sense. Since being saved by the pack Isaac had been doing everything in his power to protect those who protected him. Stiles was one of those at the top of his list to protect, but clearly, he had failed.

 

After hearing the doctor’s words, his mind kept pulling him back to all the times he could have done more to protect Stiles better. One memory, in particular, was haunting him the worst.

 

_They were fighting a pack who decided they could just settle in the Hale territory and kill whomever they wanted._

_Isaac was terrified because the plan was going to shit. They got ambushed at the school one night and they were not doing well. Lydia had managed to call Derek and Peter who were the more experienced and strongest of them all, but they were still not here._

_Scott had ordered Isaac to get Stiles and Lydia out of the building while he, Jackson, Allison, and Mr. Argent fought the other pack._

_They were almost out of the building when all of a sudden the Alpha from the other pack cut off their exit._

_An Alpha was going to be enough of a challenge for the entire pack, but for him, it was going to be next to impossible. He should have been terrified of what this guy could do to him, but all he could think about were the two people in his care._

_Stiles stepped up like he was going to charge, and Isaac could not let that happen. He had seen what a pissed off Alpha could do, and he was not going to let that happen to Stiles._

_As Stiles started to run forward Isaac held his hand out and used his wolf strength to push the dark-haired boy behind him. He remembered the grunt of pain Stiles let out when he hit the wall and the small amount of guilt that crept into his stomach, but he could not let this other Alpha hurt his people._

_Stiles stayed where he was stunned by the force of impact as the other Alpha started coming at them. Isaac made his moved attacking before the Alpha was close enough to cause damage to his friends._

_He didn’t remember most of the fight as it was kind of a blur, but he did remember Derek showing up and kicking the other Alpha’s ass. Derek was able to keep the Alpha distracted long enough for Mr. Argent to make it to them and hit him with a wolfsbane laced bullet._

_As the pack made their way out of the school he thought about checking to make sure Stiles was alright from the shove, but the other teen was laughing and messing around with Scott. So, he just assumed he was alright. The grateful smile Stiles had sent him didn’t hurt either._

Now Isaac was sitting there wondering how different things might have been had he just made sure Stiles was not hurt.

 

**ALLISON**

 

She was doing her best to keep busy, but the small distractions were only helping so much. Once she made sure everyone was comfortable, or as close as could be, she went around picking up. She started a load of laundry from everyone’s dirty clothes.

 

Every little thing was helping to take her mind off their friend laying in a hospital bed, but her thoughts just kept going back to that pail figure.

 

_Allison had always prided herself on being the adult one in the pack, but a big part of that was not falling into the childish traps the others laid for her._

_The only person who was good at getting her to act even a little bit childish was Stiles. That guy just had a way about him that made you want to play along and play she did._

_On the days that she would hang out with both Scott and Stiles she found herself relaxing more than normal. The two were always so carefree when they weren’t fighting monsters and fun. She loved getting to see them enjoying life so much._

_It was days like that where she could be tempted into playing their little games with them. After one night of binge-watching NCIS, they started a new little thing between them. If ever one of them said something dumb one of the other two would give them a small smack to the back of the head._

_Never anything hard; just enough for them to know that the others thought they were being a dumb ass. Scott fell out of it quickly only doing it every so often, but for her and Stiles it was their thing. He would give her a small thumb when she said something to put herself down and she would do the same when he put his foot in his mouth._

_They were never trying to hurt each other, they were simply playing around. Stiles had flinched a little one day when she did it, but she chalked it up to being sore from fighting those fairies a few days before._

_From that point on she had been better about keeping the smacks as playful as possible, but she didn’t want it to stop. She had tried so hard to become friends with her boyfriend’s best friend and she did not want to give up their one thing so easily._

Now she just wished she had worked harder for them to find a different thing to be their ‘thing’.

 

**PETER**

 

_The very first time he met Mr. Stilinski he had not been in his right mind. He was a broken Alpha who was power hungry and wanted to destroy things. Mostly he wanted to hurt those who had hurt him and his family, but even he can admit he had lost his shit._

_When he took Stiles from the lacrosse field he was not caring of any harm that fell on the boy. He slammed him around as if he was a rag doll and not a person._

_Slamming the teen around seemed like the easiest way to scare him into complying but looking back he knew the boy was terrified of him from the beginning. After what he had done to Lydia (they had talked and worked through it on their own) there was no way Stiles was going to fight him._

_He remembered the grunts of pain he would hear as he pushed the teen up against a wall or a car. Slamming the poor boy around in the car had not helped the situation any._

_Stiles had walked through everything he threw at him like a champ and it impressed the Alpha greatly. He had been serious when he offered the young man the bite. A part of him would always wondered what would have happened had he bitten Stiles rather than Scott. In his opinion, Stiles would have made the most amazing Beta._

Looking back Peter could remember feeling the pain rolling off the kid and he hated himself for it. That was part of the reason he treated Stiles like such a pup. The boy was so young, but he acted so brave. Every time the world tried to knock him down he got right back up and started fighting again.

 

Peter would always hate himself for what he had done when he lost his mind. It was that very reminder that made him work so hard to stay in control now. Too bad the damage might have already been done.

 

**SCOTT**

 

He kept trying to pull the pain away from Stiles, but there was nothing to pull. The coma seemed to be keeping the pain away and allowing him a chance to heal. Scott could appreciate everything they were doing for his friend, but he wanted to be able to do something too.

 

Neither he nor the Sheriff were in the mood to talk, so they just sat there alone with their thoughts and a boy they were both wishing would get better.

 

With thoughts traveling Scott wasn’t shocked he was thinking back to his history with his best friend.

 

_The two of them had been roughhousing since they were kids. Before the werewolf thing, the fights would go back and forth pretty evenly. If Scott could get the jump on Stiles early he would win, but if Stiles managed to make it go on for a while Scott’s asthma would kick in and make him lose._

_Back in those days, they both knew exactly how far to push to ensure they both stayed safe. Occasionally things would get a little out of hand and one of them would end up with a nasty scratch or bruise. If anything like that happened though they were quick to apologize and even quicker to forgive._

_The one-time Scott had a full-blown asthma attack Stiles had been so worried that he demanded to be allowed to stay the night, even though it was a school night, so he could make sure Scott was really alright._

_Since being turned he had tried to be more careful when using his strength. He might have good control over his wolf, but there were still times where he used more force than he meant to._

_One of those times just so happened to be when he and Stiles were fighting for the remote. Stiles had wanted to watch one of his superhero shows and Scott had wanted to watch a college lacrosse game._

_Both things were being recorded and they could have just watched one then the other, but they were teenage boys and that was not how this worked. That was how they found themselves rolling around on the floor fighting for the small black rectangle._

_“Boys do not make a mess in there.” His mom called hearing the telltale signs of what they were doing._

_“Ok.” They both yelled in unison still clutching the remote._

_They rolled around for a while longer sending small kicks and elbows at each other trying to get the other one off._

_After receiving a strong kick to the gut Scott started bucking them trying to get Stiles to let go. He must have used some of his wolf strength; since one moment they were trying to keep from laughing and the next Stiles was slamming down hard onto the wood floor._

_Scott knew he messed up from the amount of pain he felt coming off his friend. He dropped the remote instantly moving his hand quickly to touch Stiles and start taking his pain away._

_“Oh my god Stiles, I am so sorry. Are you alright? Crap I really did not mean for that to happen. Are you feeling ok? I didn’t break anything did I?”_

_Scott was terrified he had really hurt his best friend. Stiles, on the other hand, was quick to snatch up the remote. Sure, it had hurt, but Scott was taking most of his pain, so he was fine._

_“Victory.” He called jumping up with the remote clutched in his hand like a trophy._

_Stiles dropped his grin when he saw the worried look on his best friend’s face. “Don’t worry about it, Scotty. We have both gone a little too far when messing around before, but I’m fine. Nothing to worry about alright bro?”_

_Scott hesitated but nodded his head slowly. Stiles just decided to go for it and pull his best friend in for a strong hug._

_“Alright.” Scott said breaking the hug and pulling Stiles over to the couch. The two settled in to watch the show and then the game._

_Scott sent Stiles worried looks all night, but he seemed to be ok. He was just going to have to be more careful in the future. Hurting Stiles was not an option and if that meant he had to let him win their little wrestling matches more often than Scott was fine with it._

 

**DEREK**

 

Derek Hale could remember falling for Stiles Stilinski the moment the teen agreed to cut his arm off. It was a tall order to ask of anyone let alone a kid. But that was the big problem. Stiles was still just a kid and there was no way they could be together. Derek was way older than him.

 

Of course, that logic did nothing to discourage the crush he had. The issue with his crush was that Derek was never good at talking about his feelings. Basically, he had never left the pigtail-pulling stage of his development.

 

This made interacting with Stiles a challenge.

 

_It was like a dance any time the two of them got together. Derek would do his best to be the leader. Stiles would challenge him, be it by questioning his decisions, or making a smart-ass comment. Then Derek would push Stiles around a little and Stiles would push Derek around a little. After it was done the two of them could focus, but it was like they needed to touch each other before anything could get done._

_Sometimes it would be simple shoves and there was the occasional kick. Derek would admit he proffered the shoves simply because it made them feel closer._

_He tried to stop himself, he really did, but every time he refrained from touching Stiles the teen would touch him even more. Once he even went as far as to plop himself down over Derek’s lap._

_The Alpha knew it was meant as a joke, but he needed to make sure something like that never happened again. After shoving the teen off he made a mad dash for a blanket trying to cover himself._

_He decided then that the aggressive touches at the start of their meetings were probably for the best._

_Shoving Stiles into walls had started really early on in. Derek had to admit that he liked the feeling of their faces being only inches away from each other. Their chests would be pressed together, and it just felt so right to be that close to each other._

_Stiles never complained about the rough treatment and in his twisted mind, Derek decided that if the teen wasn’t telling him to stop that it was somehow alright._

_Just last week he and Stiles got into a screaming match about how to handle a small problem. Stiles had moved first shoving the Alpha hard in the chest. The teen got in a few solid blows before he seemed to have worn himself out._

_Derek took him being tired as an opening and quickly shoved the teen into the wall. He had no idea if the boy hit his head. Instead, he was focused on listening to his breathing and drinking in the look on Stile’s face._

_The two of them stood there for a few moments. Hands on each other’s chests they stayed just like that. It wasn’t until Lydia made a joke about the two of them getting a room that they both let go of one another._

_Once the boy was out of his grip his wolf started crying demanding to grab on again. Even his wolf was attracted to the boy. He remembered thinking he was in deep shit when he sat down but ignored the feeling in favor of leading the discussion._

Thinking back on their enter friendship Derek was pissed at himself. He wished he could just tell Stiles how he felt, but Stiles was still just a kid. He deserved to be with someone his own age who could treat him like the king he is.

 

Looking at all the members of his pack he couldn’t help but thinking that he was failing all of them. Maybe they would be better off with someone else leading them. Someone who was actually able to communicate their feeling and who wasn’t such a wreck.

 

Shaking those thoughts off he decided that was something to be dealt with later. For now, he needed to send a message to Deaton. If anyone was going to help Stiles make a full recovery it was Deaton.

 

Derek was just grateful the vet had a soft spot for Stiles.

 

**HANDLE WITH CARE**

 

_A week and a half later_

 

Stiles was awake. The doctors had been monitoring his progress and said he was healing a lot faster than expected. With the swelling going down so quickly they felt comfortable waking him up and possibly letting him go home with very strict instructions.

 

He was going to need lots of rest. Staying in bed was going to be a requirement and they were recommending no electronics. God, he was not going to like that and they all knew it.

 

Of course, this was all just speculation until they got the results from the tests.

 

For now, everyone was hanging out in the room thanking God for letting Stiles wake up.

 

Stiles had only glanced quizzically at the strange symbols Deaton had drawn on his body with a strange goo, but he just shrugged deciding he could ask later.

 

“How are you feeling bud?” His dad asked for about the tenth time.

 

“I’m good pops. A little sore, but that’s probably from not moving for so long.”

 

Lydia continued scooting closer and closer to the bed. Jackson standing behind her was the only reason she had not already launched herself on top of him. She had been slowly losing her shit all week and seeing him right there was making her crave contact.

 

“Well get used to it.” She said quickly. “When you get home you are not going anywhere other than bed and that is where you are going to stay.”

 

“What if I have to go to the bathroom?” He snarked.

 

She leveled him with an impressive glare. “Then someone will carry you there and when you are done they will carry you back to bed.”

 

That shut him up quickly.

 

_Two days later_

 

They had to wait a few more days before letting him go home and Stiles was itching with anticipation. The hospital was so boring, and he missed his bed.

 

Some of the pack came to the hospital to help him to get home and he had it on good authority that the rest were at his house getting everything ready for him.

 

The doctors had been so impressed with his recovery that they were close to questioning how it had happened. Luckily Peter did a lot of the talking and by the time the doctor left the room he made it sound like Stiles was just a very lucky young man.

 

His second day of being awake Deaton told him about the healing spell he had placed over Stiles. Apparently, the goo was some special secretion of a rare plant that when given to a member of a pack could allow the pack to help the member reach a full recovery. There were some dangers, but the vet explained that since Stiles was in a coma there was very little chance of anything going wrong.

 

Stiles was just grateful the vet had been willing to do that for him and he was even more grateful that he was going to be alright. The vet even said he might be good enough to play lacrosse next year. His dad had not liked that, but Jackson had given him such a pleased smile that he would take it.

 

Speaking of his captain. He was shocked when they pulled up to his house and Jackson picked him up and carried him bridal style up to his room. A few of the wolves looked a little jealous at seeing Stiles in Jackson’s arms, but they were just happy to see him home.

 

“Here we go.” Jackson said lowering him into his bed.

 

It felt so good to be back in his own space.

 

Jackson helped him to adjust onto the bed, but as soon as he stepped away Lydia and Scott were on him. Lydia going so far as to crawl into the bed with him and wrap her arms around him forcing him to lie down how the doctors had wanted.

 

Scott sat on the bed on his other side grabbing his hand and making sure he wasn’t in any pain.

 

The other members of the pack came in and out of his room throughout the day. Sometimes to bring him food and other times just to visit. They were trying really hard not to overwhelm him.

 

Everyone was relieved when he slept most of the day. They had been worried about him getting enough rest.

 

Sheriff Stilinski was kind enough to let them camp out in his house, so they could offer him twenty-four-hour assistance. They had plans to take shifts so there was always at least two people there.

 

It was clear the man felt horrible about going back to work, but Stiles had pushed him stating the man’s duties to the town. Once Melisa promised to stop over and do a health check every day the man agreed that he could go back to work.

 

As promised the enter pack was there the first day and after that, they started following Lydia’s schedule. She divided up the time, so they all knew when it was mandatory to be there, but she also highlighted times when they each should not be there.

 

No one was supposed to be there for more than six hours at a time. You were allowed to be there when it wasn’t your scheduled time, so long as you were not there during your off time.

 

Stiles was very appreciative of the fact that she was making them leave so they could; rest, change, get some food, take a shower and just take care of themselves in general. He knew how self-destructive they could be when they were given a chance to not take care of themselves did not want that to happen because they were taking care of him.

 

With everything in place this was how their lived went for another week and a half.

 

“You know I think I can do this on my own.” Stiles said as Scott joined him in the shower.

 

They were both wearing swim trunks, but still. It had been long enough that he thought he should be allowed to attempt this by himself.

 

“No way dude. Someone needs to be here to make sure you don’t get your stitches wet. Plus, they are worried about what could happen if you slipped and fell, so, for now, this is how we're doing things.”

 

At least Scott had the decency to just stand there and try to steady him when he got wobbly. His body was still sore from spending so much time in bed not moving and he was not as steady as he would like to be.

 

Scott had to help a lot more than Stiles would like to admit when they got out of the shower. He managed to change his bottoms by himself while sitting on the toilet and decided to forgo the shirt. His best bud practically had to carry him back to bed because he was so tired, but Scott didn’t seem to mind.

 

“Thanks bro.” Stiles huffed exhausted from such a simple activity.

 

“No worries man. It’s the least I can do.”

 

Something about the way he said that gave Stiles pause. He had noticed that tone in several other members of the pack's voices throughout the week, but up to this point, he was not feeling well enough to bring it up.

 

He might have been healing really well and he wasn’t in any pain, but the surgery, coma, and hospital stay had really taken a lot out of him. Doing everything just seemed so hard.

 

“What does that mean?” Stiles asked causing Scott to shift uncomfortably.

 

Stiles could see the urge to flee in his befriends eyes, so he reached out his hand and grabbed the wolfs wrist. Immediately a guilty look fell onto Scott’s face and the tears started to return.

 

“I just…I hurt you, dude.”

 

A confused look fell on Stiles' face. “What! When?”

 

Scott gave a little sniffle. That was enough of that. Using all the strength he had the injured boy pulled as hard as he could on the other to get him to sit down on the bed.

 

“Scottie, what are you talking about? When did you supposedly hurt me?”

 

Scott took a moment to compose himself before answering. “When we were wrestling. I used my wolf strength and slammed up into the floor. You hit your head and I am so sorry I did this to you, Stiles. I’m so sorry.”

 

By the end, Scott was full on sobbing. The young wolf was falling apart before his eyes.

 

“Hey, hey Scottie boy there is no need for all that.” He said pulling the broken boy down and into a hug. Scott just came willingly like a rag doll.

 

Stiles was digging really deep trying to figure out what Scott was talking about and when he finally got there. Was that small little spat what all this fuss was over.

 

“You mean the night we watched the lacrosse finals?” At his friend's affirmative nod Stiles let out a little laugh.

 

“Buddy I was fine. No more damage was done then any of the other times we did that. Sure, we got a little rougher than we should have, but that always happens. You didn’t do this to me alright, this was not your fault. The only reason I remember that stupid wrestling match only because I felt like such a badass when you let go.”

 

“But I hurt you.” The wolf cried.

 

Ok, they needed to take care of this right now. “Scottie do you want to know what you did that physically hurt me the worst in all the time we have known each other.”

 

Scott didn’t respond so Stiles just sighed. “We were eleven and you bit my hand because I stole your Gameboy.”

 

The crying calmed down a lot after he said that, but Scott was still very distressed.

 

“Remember. We ended up having to go to the hospital and I needed five stitches. You felt so bad you tried to give me your Gameboy as a gift.” Stiles laughed.

 

Scott seemed to be remembering what happened and when he did he had to laugh too. They both had gotten such stern talks from their parents. May, neither of them had thought about that in years.

 

When the laughter died down a guilty expression came back onto his friends face. “I’m still really sorry Sty. I feel like I made this happen to you.”

 

“Shit happens Scottie. I know you would never hurt do anything to intentionally hurt me.”

 

That prompted Scott to nod enthusiastically. “This was not your fault. It was no one’s fault. Sometimes things just happen.”

 

He could tell Scott was having a hard time believing him, but the message seemed to have gotten there. “Love you, brother.” The wolf mumbled taking the comfort his best friend was offering.

 

“Love you too.”

 

They stayed there for a bit. Scott calming down and Stiles regaining some of his energy. He knew he needed to talk to Scott about the others and their strange behavior, but he needed a bit to regain his strength.

 

“Now.” He started once he felt capable of continuing. “Do you want to tell me why all of the others have been talking like they also blame themselves for my plight?”

 

Scott shot him a confused look before shrugging.

 

“Well, then we better go deal with that. Do you know who all is here?”

 

“Everyone but Peter and Isaac. The others were waiting for you to finish showering before anyone came up.”

 

Stiles nodded and started moving to sit up. “Will you message both of them and ask them to come over. There are some things we really need to talk about and I need everyone here to do so.”

 

Scott sent out texts quickly and then rushed to help Stiles who decided he could start making the walk downstairs all by himself.

 

The others heard them coming before they saw them. Stiles was trying to go down the stairs by himself and Scott was worrying like a mother duck whose baby couldn’t walk just yet.

 

Derek knew he might get in trouble for this, but he rushed up the stairs quickly picking up his injured pack member and bringing him down the stairs. Stiles was a little surprised, but it was more the fact that it was Derek who was moving him rather than the fact that someone was moving them.

 

Since he had woken up Derek had not said more than a handful of words to him. The Alpha wasn’t being hostel or anything like that; he just hadn’t said much. Stiles had been worried that his Sourwolf was constantly distressed.

 

He sat the teen down on the couch only for Lydia to swoop in and curl up really close. Whenever she was anywhere near Stiles she got as close as possible. It was more than fine by Stiles. Lydia was amazing at giving cuddles.

 

They all sat for a moment until Peter and Isaac came. From the looks of it, the two of them ran there. “Is everything alright?” Peter asked looking panicked.

 

“Dude what did you send them?”

 

Scott shrugged. “I said you wanted to talk with everyone.”

 

“Your exact words Mr. McCall were ‘get over here now. Stiles needs to talk to you.’. We thought something was really wrong.” Peter snapped lowering himself into an empty chair.

 

“Alright, now that everyone is here we need to talk.”

 

He could feel everyone tense and he felt bad for doing this in the way he was, but it needed to get done. “Guys, how many of you feel personally guilty for what happened to me?”

 

His voice was as neutral as possible. The question hung there in the air for a moment before every single member of the pack raised their hands. He let out a long breath knowing this was going to suck.

 

“Alright. Well, let’s do this one at a time then. Scottie had his turn upstairs, so Allison why don’t you go next. Why do you feel like you caused this?”

 

Most of the pack was shocked to hear the reason she was blaming herself. Stiles honestly hadn’t even thought about those little head slaps since this whole thing had happened.

 

“Allison. Ali. You never once hurt me when doing that. Me flinching that one time was not from pain. It was because I was afraid I really offended you by what I said. I know my jokes can be in poor taste or have bad timing. A sex joke at that moment was probably not the way to go.

 

That is our thing and I have done it just as much to you as you have to me.”

 

She nodded at his words wiping the tears out of her eye.

 

“Alright, Izzy. You go next.”

 

As Isaac reminded them of the other pack attacking there were several sad looks around the room. Those guys had really done some damage before they were able to beat them.

 

“Oh, pup. Isaac, you do realize you probably saved my life, right? In the moment I forgot all about the fact that you have super strength and speed. All I could see was a scary guy coming at us and acted without thinking. That Alpha would have torn me in half before anyone could have done anything. You pushing me behind you is probably the only reason I am still alive.”

 

Stiles waited until Isaac brought his head up to meet his gaze before moving on. Knowing what he did about Isaac he knew how important it was for the boy to have that connection made. He knew some of what he was saying had gotten through when the blond gave him a small smile.

 

“Peter?”

 

There was no helping the eye roll at hearing the oldest wolf's words. One glance at Lydia told him she was thinking along the same exact lines.

 

“Peter Richard Hale. No one and I mean no one in this pack blames you for what you did when you were out of your mind. I know that is something hard for you to believe and that it is going to take more time, but you need to start forgiving yourself.

 

Yes. You did some bad shit, but Peter, you are not the same man who did those things. All those years trapped in your own head with all that anger building was enough to drive anyone to insanity. Do yourself a favor and start working past it. There is no way to undo what has been done but let yourself off the hook for this one. Take your second chance and focus on being a better person rather than the mistakes you made before.”

 

He knew Peter needed time to come to terms with what he had said so he moved on.

 

“Jax. What about you?”

 

Jackson looked so uncomfortable the entire time he talked, and everyone could understand that. He was not one to do feelings. He avoided them altogether when possible, so it was understandable that he was so uncomfortable.

 

The jock talked all about how he felt like a horrible captain and leader. The discussion kind of turned away from how he thought he had wronged Stiles and moved more into his insecurities about being chosen as a leader.

 

This was his first big time sharing and the others were totally just letting him go. After a while, he realized what he was doing and steered the conversation back to Stiles, but the others were proud of him regardless.

 

“Jackson you are a great captain.” Scott said firmly.

 

Scott was starting to realize he could probably give Jackson a lot more slack when they are working together. He has always known the other boy had the team’s best interest at heart.

 

Jackson just gave a small shrug at his co-captains words clearly not believing them. This was defiantly going to be something the entire pack worked on over time.

 

“Jax dude, if we are going to blame anyone we are going to blame the defense. Those guys are jerks.”

 

“Hey!” Isaac called sounding insulted.

 

“See, point made.”

 

That got a small laugh out of Jackson, but they still had a long way to go.

 

“Besides dude, I know your right. I could push myself a lot harder at practice, but I don’t. I allow myself to settle for being average and good for you for pushing me to do my best. The fact that you call me out on my shit proves that you are doing right by the team.

 

The fact that I got knocked down was not because you made me do the drill again. It was because I tried a move that would have kicked one defender's ass when I was playing two. A miscalculation on my part, not yours.”

 

Jackson shrugged again, and Stiles knew he wasn’t going to get much more.

 

Had he had more energy he might have pushed for something more, but this was taking it all out of him.

 

“Okay, Lyds. Hit me with your best shot.”

 

Trying to think back there was not a single moment he could remember her hitting him, or causing him to be hit, so whatever it was she thought she did to cause his injuries was beyond him.

 

She turned to him slowly with watery eyes.

 

“You were hurt right in front of me and I didn’t even notice.” She said lower lip trembling.

 

Crap, he probably should have guessed that. “Lydia. Love of my life who is now my sister, you are not in fact psychic. As much as you might like to think you know everything going on around you there are just things you will never know.

 

If anything, I am to blame. I knew my head had been hurting for a while, but I decided to ignore it, so I could avoid going to the doctor.”

 

Everyone knew about his issues with doctors, but it was another one of those things that they just never talked about. They all had shit from their past that they hated, and no one really wanted to push anyone else with the shit they didn’t want to talk about for fear of their own demons being brought up.

 

He hated how much pressure Lydia put on herself. She seemed to be following his logic, but he knew that was going to be something they both just needed to work on going forward.

 

“Guys the big thing I think most of you are forgetting is the fact that a few months back that troll swung his club and hit me in the back of the head. Most of you tried to get me to go to the hospital, but I refused because how in the fuck were we going to explain that. Clearly, I should have listened to you all more.”

 

The others seemed to be listening to his reasoning, but who knows at this point.

 

Doing a quick look around the room it was clear there was only one person left, but he was feeling a worn out. He also knew this last one was going to be the hardest. Derek Hale was one of the most stubborn people he had ever met and convincing him he was not the sole reason for everything bad in the universe.

 

“Sourwolf I would love to talk to you, but do you mind doing it upstairs? I’m just really worn out.”

 

Ok, the last sentence was kind of underhanded, but he was still sick and he was going to get his way gosh darn it.

 

Derek moved quickly offering to carry him and Stile’s was not ashamed to admit that he practically jumped into the Alpha’s arms.

 

The two of them went up to his room. Derek laid him down softly on his bed before practically jumping away from him. Stiles really wished he wouldn’t do these things. In fact, since he had just handled all of that downstairs he was going to be selfish again.

 

“Derek Hale I am not having this conversation like this. Will you please come over here so we can talk like normal people?”

 

The older man moved a little closer to the bed before stopping. He only moved even closer because Stiles gave him a really nasty glare. When he was only a few inches from the bed the teen patted the space next to him indicating that he should sit.

 

Derek knew he shouldn’t. He knew he needed to be the adult and keep his distance, but just like every other time the pull Stiles had over him won out and he sat down on the edge of the bed.

 

This was feeling very familiar to Stiles, so he decided to skip some steps, mostly crying, and pulled Derek by the shirt collar until he was laying down by him just like Scott had been earlier.

 

It was clear the older man was a little uncomfortable, but Stiles had already decided he was being selfish, so he just went with it.

 

“So Sourwolf, what terrible wrong do you think you have done to hurt me?”

 

To avoid looking at the teen next to him Derek decided to lay on his back looking up at the ceiling.

 

When Derek didn’t answer right away Stiles wasn’t surprised. When dealing with his Alpha he knew there was a need for time. The only time Derek did things quickly was when he was panicking, or he was angry. Stiles really proffered him like this.

 

“I hurt you, Stiles.”

 

It was such a simple statement, but it held the weight of the world on its shoulders.

 

Stiles was shocked, to say the least. He had kind of figured Derek was just blaming himself because he was the Alpha. That was the main reason he had wanted to have this conversation away from the others and why he wanted Derek to relax.

 

He knew how insecure Derek was with being the Alpha and how often he blamed himself for everything that went wrong.

 

To hear that he felt responsible not for that reason, but because he felt bad about manhandling Stiles broke his heart a little.

 

“No, a giant Omega hurt me. A group of fairies hurt me, a troll really hurt me, and gravity has hurt me, but not you Derek. You never hurt me.”

 

“Yes, I did.”

 

“Well, I hurt you too. I gave just as good as I got.”

 

“It’s not the same. I am a born wolf. I should know better than to push a human around in the way I have.”

 

Stiles could not help the laugh he let out. He felt Derek tense next to him, but it was just funny to him.

 

“Right, like I haven’t been pushing your buttons since we met. You do know I would purposefully try to get a rise out of you right?”

 

“It doesn’t matter. I am the Alpha now and I should have handled myself better. There are certain things that just shouldn’t be don’t and allowing myself to shove you around is one of them. I have basically just been abusing you and it is not alright.”

 

The pure emotion coming from Derek was something Stiles wasn’t used to.

 

“Derek look at me.”

 

It took a few paused before the older man did just that.

 

“I know without a doubt that if I ever indicated to you that you were hurting me you would have stopped touching me right away and you wouldn’t have done it again. The reason I never said anything was because you weren’t hurting me.”

 

Derek went to protest, but Stiles held up a hand to silence him.

 

“Yes, sometimes a shove would hurt or there would be a sting from being pushed into the wall, but all of those feelings were so small in comparison to how happy I felt having you touch me or to be so close to me.”

 

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of Derek’s body.

 

“I could have said stop at any time and I know without a doubt that you would have never done it again. That wasn’t what I wanted. Being close to you makes me feel something so amazing. It’s something I don’t want to lose.”

 

Stiles sounded so worried that Derek abandoned all sense of what was right and reached over to pull the younger man into his arms. It just felt so right, and they would both be happy to stay where they were forever.

 

“You’re not going to lose anything.”

 

They were both so worried about breaking whatever it was that they had found in each other’s presence that neither was willing to move. It would be understandable that they would fall asleep where they were. If the others came up and happened to see them no one needed to know. The pack was just glad those two were finally figuring things out.

 

_Three hours later._

 

Derek woke up when he felt the weigh on top of him shift. He cracked his eyes open to see Stiles in his arms and instantly a smile graced his lips.

 

“Morning.” Stiles mumbled.

 

That was all it took to snap Derek out of the daze he had been in. The smile was gone replaced by the usual grimace.

 

“We can’t do this Stiles.”

 

It killed him to say that out loud, but he knew it was true. Stiles deserved so much more than Derek.

 

“And why the hell not?” Stiles questioned aggressively.

       

“For starters, you are a minor which is reason enough. The fact that I am an emotionally compromised werewolf is another strong thing that should stop us.”

 

Stiles just scoffed in reply. “Ok A, I am 17. I will be 18 in less than six months. B, that is a stupid reason not to do something.”

 

Derek was coming up with an entire list of things that should stop this conversation in its tracks, but as usual, Stiles is always two steps ahead of him. Honestly, he had no idea when Stiles had figured out how to tell what he was thinking. Was it something he had always been able to do or did he figure it out over time and exposure?

 

“Look at it this way. I am still healing right?”

 

Derek nodded knowing he was walking into a trap but continued listening anyways.

 

“Well, it is going to take me a while to heal even with Deaton’s spell. He said I have months of recovery before I can be considered fully recovered. I wouldn’t be able to really be much of a good boyfriend in that time because I do need to focus on getting better.

 

This means there is already a push back for when we could start actually being a couple. By the time I am healed there is a very good chance I am going to be over 18 which by definition means I will no longer be a child. That would take care of the first and what I’m guessing is your major issue.

 

While we are waiting for the all clear to start a relationship we could work on our communication. Clearly, it is something we could both use some work on and being honest with each other will give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

 

Derek had to admit. When Stiles came up with a plan he really went all in.

 

“What if we start being honest with each other and you realize I am the asshole I have always claimed to be?”

 

Stiles considered for a moment and although he thought it was very unlikely he figured a back door was not a bad idea.

 

“Well if we wait and decide we don’t want to be together then we don’t get together. No harm no foul. We will probably have to compartmentalize some, but I think we are both very good about pushing our emotions down and ignoring them, so we could probably do it.”

 

Maybe it was his lack of ability to say no to Stiles or maybe it was just the overwhelming feeling of joy from getting to hold Stiles for hours, but Derek found himself liking the idea.

 

“So, we just wait?”

 

“We just wait.”

 

“Alright. As long as we both understand that there is a chance it just won’t work out.”

 

Stiles moved a little to look Derek dead in the eyes. “I’m willing to risk it for the chance that it will work out.”

 

Derek felt the pure emotion and love coming out of Stile’s eyes and knew that if Stiles would continue looking at him like that there was nothing he couldn’t do.

 

“One added rule though.” Stiles said quickly. “We are going to be doing this all the time. You are almost as good at cuddling as Lydia.”

 

The Alpha laughed pulling the teen back down so his head was resting on his chest.

 

Just like that, it seemed like everything had sorted itself out. Derek still had some concerns and he still felt responsible for Stiles being hurt, but he knew he would spend the rest of his life trying to make sure nothing hurt him again.

 

Although they don’t know what the future holds they were both content to wait it out and see what was to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed.
> 
> All mistakes are my own.
> 
> I want to make it clear that the intent of this fic was not to blame the pack for causing the injury to Stiles. It was my intention to have his injuries be caused by several of the monsters they have fought. The Troll as mentioned was one of the main culprits. The pack is blaming themselves because they all care about him so much and feel personally responsible. 
> 
> I know it might seem like Derek might have caused a lot of damage, but in my mind, Derek was always careful to not actually hurt Stiles when shoving him around. I see the shoving as more of a flirting thing for them and I like to think that Derek even if subconsciously works really hard not to allow it to hurt Stiles by softening all the blows.


End file.
